How do everyday individuals interact with the law? What is the relationship between judicial process – that is, the engagement with and navigation of the legal system – and justice? How do we understand the redress of harms or the application of punishment as part of the achievement of justice and fairness? And what political, legal, social, or rhetorical barriers exist to the full inclusion of individuals within the processes of the law – and is full inclusion even desirable? In this course, we will explore answers to these questions by examining the law’s interpretation in and influence on American society and, in doing so, we will think critically about the power of the state and the justness of the ordinary rules that govern our collective lives. We will engage with texts that consider the nature of the law and legal (dis)obedience, the structure of the courts, legal terminology, sources of law, and approaches to legal reasoning, and we will bring these texts to bear on issues such as murder, “workmen’s” compensation, and environmental disasters – and we will assess how the ideals illuminated by these texts extend, complicate, and challenge our understanding of contemporary issues like bail reform, mass incarceration, capital punishment, immigration, and more. As a whole, in this course, we will attend to both the macro politics of the law at the national level and the micro politics of legal interactions within neighborhoods, communities, workplaces, families, and more.